A Sweet and Personal DIY Yosemite Wedding with Pine Cone Bouquet

From the bride: Our families had never met, so we really wanted to have a celebration that lasted a few days for everyone. Paradise Springs in Yosemite, California was the perfect location for our three day celebration with everyone. We were on a strict budget of $10,000 and spent most on lodging for all our guests at the venue, so the rest of the day was DIY to the max!

The gift Louie got for me was a box filled with 5 novels as pictured. They contained every text/ picture message we had ever sent to one another. He designed and put them together all himself and then got them published. And to finish it off, he went looking for a vintage box to put them all in; I am quite the lucky girl.

Favourite Part of the Day

It is amazing how great our friends and family really are. Even though our families had never met by the end of the two days they were having three hour long conversations. Seeing everyone able to become ‘family’ gave us so much joy.

There are two specifics that we wouldn’t trade the memory of for the world. One was sitting around the campfire at the reception; no pressure, no awkward conversations, no feeling like we didn’t have time to eat… It was the most relaxing and amazing thing. Another was the moment we had everyone break into groups and pray for us during the ceremony as we took communion. This didn’t get us until we watched the video footage back and could hear all the prayers. We might have both cried.

Advice for planning brides?

First… Venue is so important. Not that it is the most pricy or impressive…but it needs to reflect you as a couple and the kind of wedding you want.

Make memories. Mess ups and mishaps will happen and they become what you laugh about. Make the smiles on people’s faces and the laughter in the room be what you remember and focus on. You’ve done your planning; now enjoy the love being sent your way and do your best to not let the little things get to you!